1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to mobile communication systems, and more particularly to assigning channels and time slots upon demand in mobile communication systems.
2. Related Art
As the demand for mobile communications increases, future wireless systems will be required to provide services between mobile users that form communities of interest. A community of interest is considered to be any set of mobile users having frequent need to communicate directly with each other. Such communities of interest can be indoor and/or outdoor, formed by business and/or private users.
For example, more and more business applications require complete user mobility. These include office, factory, hospital, and emergency services, among others. In addition, as the mobile population of private users grows, it is very likely that such communities of interest of mobile users (at both ends of each wireless communication link) will form.
In order to support wireless communication applications where both end users are mobile, a wireless communication system must have flexible call assignment strategy and provide efficient user mobility management. The wireless system must have an efficient channel or time slot assignment procedure, provide high system throughput, and have fast handoff capability. In addition, the wireless system must have a switching system that is specifically designed to support the communication requirements associated with a self contained end user community (i.e., the majority of calls stay within the boundaries of the wireless system).
Conventional wireless communication systems do not provide these features. Accordingly, such conventional wireless communication systems do not adequately support wireless communication applications where both end users are mobile.